Curtains Drawn
by Trespassers Will
Summary: Nothing can prepare you for the death of your best friend. Nothing. Basil/Dawson, can be viewed as friendship or slash. Rated T for character death.


_Hello, I am Trespassers Will. The Great Mouse Detective is one of my favourite Disney movies and I have been reading a lot of fanfiction. So I got this little plot bunny and threw this together. Enjoy!_

_Movie: The Great Mouse Detective_

_Genre: Angst/Tragedy_

_Couple: Basil/Dawson, could be viewed as friendship or slash, whatever you want._

_Rating: T_

_Warning: Character Death_

_Summary: Nothing can prepare you for the death of your best friend. Nothing._

**Basil of Baker Street/The Great Mouse Detective belongs to Eve Titus and animation wise, Disney.**

* * *

**Curtains Drawn **

* * *

Basil was accustomed to death by now. As a detective he had seen many a mouse die. Death was a part of life, Basil accepted that. But as someone who lived his life preferring his own company and not making many friends he was not prepared for the soul crushing experience that would come at having his first true friend die...

It all began about three years after the final Ratigan case when Mrs Hudson spotted them while Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson were out on a case.

'Oh dear,' she thought, 'mice!' She sat up a mouse trap outside of the hole in the wall, waiting for one of the two mice to come out.

Later that day Basil and Dawson got a case. Ms Judson was away visiting a family member so it was just them two at some. Basil ran towards the mouse hole to go to Toby before he realised he forgot a valuable piece of evidence and rushed back to his desk to get it. Dawson, who was rather sleepy and did not really want to go in the first place went ahead out the whole.

"Basil," he said groggily, "You know I normally love the thrill of our cases but right now I'm tired. Will this case-"

_Snap._

Basil, hearing the nose put down what infernal contraption he was holding (he honestly could not remember what it was, looking back) and ran out of the whole into 221 Baker Street. He was not prepared for what he saw.

Basil had seen many dead bodies in his life and it never fazed him, but he never _knew _those mice. Seeing the body of someone you cared about was something different interily.

He slowly walked towards the mouse trap.

"D... D... Dawson?"

He felt the other mouse's chest. No pulse. Not that that was surprising with a broken neck.

Suddenly he saw Mrs Hudson coming and dashed back into the mouse hole he called home not letting the situation truly sink in.

"One of those bloody mice," he heard, "Just have to wait for the other one to come out!"

That was when Basil let the situation run through his head. Dr David Q. Dawson was dead. His best friend, his only friend unless you counted Olivia was dead. Basil prided himself on not showing emotion very much. He hid it and only let it show occasionally. Most of those times involved Dawson and this time certainly did so for the first time in forever he let himself cry as he played his violin in sorrow.

* * *

The next afternoon Olivia and her father stopped by for a visit like they normally did after returning to London.

_Knock, knock._

"Go away," let out Basil weekly.

_Knock, knock._

"Go away!"

"Basil, it's us!" said a soft Scottish voice.

"Oh, Ms Flaversham."

Basil got up from his chair for the first time since last night. He opened the door the greet the family.

"Oh, hello."

"Can we come in," asked Mr Flaversham.

"Of course," said Basil, still in something of a daze.

The pair stepped in and Mr Flaversham got a good look at Basil. He was surprised at what he saw. The mouse's fur was a mess, his eyes were red with bags under them and the fur on his face was wet. He was about to open his mouth to say something when the now eleven year old Olivia skipped forward.

"Hello Basil!" said a cherry voice.

"Oh, hello Ms Flaversham."

It was then that Olivia noticed Basil's state. Not only did her look a mess, but he also sounded so week, so tired, so _broken. _He didn't even mess up her name as he always did!

"Basil, sir, what's wrong," asked Mr Flaversham.

"Wait, where's Dawson?" asked Olivia.

Basil collapsed into his chair and said, "I can answer both of those questions at once. Dawson is... Dawson is _dead._"

The Flaversham's stared at him for a moment wide eyed before yelling "What!" in unison.

"Oh, yes, a mouse trap... g... got him last night."

There was a deathly silence for a moment as the other two mice tried to comprehend this. Eventually Olivia burst into tears. Mr Flaversham almost did as he had grown to be good friends with the doctor who helped saved his daughters life, but kept it together for his dearest daughter.

They stayed there for another few minutes until Mr Flaversham slowly opened his mouth. "M... m...maybe you should get the police around here to confirm the death?"

"I suppose..."

"Or maybe a doctor?" choked out Olivia wiping her tears before remembering _who_ was a doctor and bursting into tears once more.

"Well that wouldn't be much help, as Mrs Hudson," be spat the name out bitterly, "took his body."

The room fell silent once more.

"Well, I'll go get a police officer and see what must be done to register the death," said Mr

Flaversham, "Basil, you stay here with Olivia, you are not in much of a state to go out." Mr Flaversham quickly walked out of 221 and a ½ Baker Street sniffing, leaving Basil and Olivia in the house.

All that could be heard but the ticking of the clock and the quiet sobs of Olivia.

Eventually Basil weakly said something, more to himself than anyone else. "You know it's funny, I always assumed that if someone got killed while living with me it would be due to them being murdered in cold blood by one of my enemies. I never thought it would be because of a bloody mouse trap!"

Silence returned to the room once more...

Soon the door knocked and Basil, knowing that it must be Mr Flaversham and a police officer simply said "Come in."

* * *

Everything was able to be confirmed rather quickly as death by human-set mouse trap was a very common cause of death for mice. Soon Dawson's family was contacted as was Mrs Judson who returned to London as soon as possible with many an "Oh, you poor dear!" said.

The funeral was planned and the day came more quickly than Basil would have liked. He was not ready to say his final goodbyes.

Basil decided to give a speech. It was out of the ordinary for Basil, nothing deep or complicated just short and bitter-sweet. That was all he could write at the moment. Even so, many were moved to tears. Although Basil wasn't sure if it was his speech or just the whole situation. For him it was certainly the ladder.

That night he returned home. The Flavershams stayed for a while but eventually, as it got late, returned to their own home and Basil was left alone to wallow in his sorrors.

As he was silently crying her heard a voice.

"That other mouse still hasn't come out!"

Ah, Mrs Hudson.

"You know, I don't really mind."

Mr Holmes.

"Well I do, I hate mice! Nasty little vermin! I won't stop until it's dead!" and she didn't. As the days turned into weeks, she was still trying to get him and Basil ultimately decided, with much annoyance, that he needed to move out.

Maybe it would be for the best. Maybe getting away from the memories would drown out the sorrows.

* * *

A few weeks later Basil had all his bags packed and was ready to move to a nice little place a few streets away. It was only a few doors down from the Flavershams, which was a good thing. He was going to continue beign a detective, of course. Mrs Judson was going to come but ultimately decided against it, as her sister had gotten very sick and she needed to take care of her.

"Goodbye Basil, I wish you all the best."

"Likewise."

As he walked away from 221 and a ½ Baker Street, he suddenly felt just a little bit of peace. Dawson may have been gone, but he was not forgotten. As he moved on with his life continued solving cases he would always remember his fallen friend and maybe one day Olivia could become his assistant, she was certainly bright.

But no matter what happened there would a great mouse detective to solve crimes. Dr David Q Dawson may have been dead but Basil (no longer of Baker Street) lived on to tell the tales of his doctor friend and as long as they were told he would never truly be forgotten.

* * *

_Oh my gosh, that ending sucked. I wasn't sure how to end it! Hope you enjoyed this fic, I'm not very good at writing death. Love a good bit of angst though. Please review and leave some constructive criticism (constructive being the key word) and if you liked this fic, consider following me!_

_~Trespassers Will_


End file.
